A Noteworthy Blogger

I only follow a couple of blogs. Each of them I have stumbled upon quite by accident and have loved the crafty awesomeness of the writer. But my absolute favourite would have to be Abby Glassenberg’s blog.

What’s more, Abby is incredibly generous with her advice, tutorials, tips and tricks. I have learned so much from her blog. Her free tutorial for an octopus was a huge hit when I made them as party favours for Big’s fourth birthday and her techniques have featured in a lot of my own designs.

Recently, Abby’s blog has undergone a massive overhaul in the last year to focus more on how she has succeed in her business as a toy designer and author (her second book looks amazing!).

When I emailed Abby, she was lovely enough to get back to me, answering all of my questions.

Abby is a plush pattern designer, craft book author and sewing teacher. She blogs about sewing stuffed animals and running a handmade business, as well as being the mum of the three girls. She lives in Massachusetts and works from home with her studio in a corner of her bedroom.

Look at that space! I would give anything to have a work space like that!

And one for her girls!!!

As a strong believer in honesty, Abby speaks openly about what goes on behind the scenes in a creative business and is lucky enough to have her blog supported by sponsors, which supplements the income she makes selling softie patterns and teaching sewing classes.

While she admits that working from home can be isolating, Abby loves the fact that the internet has made it easy for her to stay motivated each day by checking with what the makers and bloggers she admires are up to.

Like most of us, Abby has moments when things do not go according to plan (an admission on her blog that made me breathe a massive sigh of relief!). When this happens with her patterns, she takes a break and reminds herself that it is not wasted time, but failed experiments are tremendous moments of growth.

Abby also collects paintings, but says that her favourite form of art is anything in three dimensions and clever.

What makes me utterly envious is how efficient she is. Abby has a work table that allows her to keep everything out so that when she has five minutes while someone is in the bath, she can close a seam or cut something out. I, on the other hand, tend to faff about doing something completely useless because I never feel like I have enough time to start something.

Even if you don’t sew, the advice on Abby’s blog can be translated into all forms of small business ventures and it is nice to read about a SAHM who is making her business to work. When the internet can seem so vast and uncaring and it is difficult to break into online cliques, Abby’s blog is very refreshing.